


broken coin slot

by melancholarie



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gender-Neutral Frisk, Gender-neutral Reader, M/M, Post-Pacifist Route, Reader-Insert, reader works at one of those mall arcades
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-13
Updated: 2016-07-18
Packaged: 2018-07-23 19:42:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7477341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melancholarie/pseuds/melancholarie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>sans/reader, post-pacifist.<br/>You work at a nostalgic little mall arcade. It's a nice little job, you usually don't have to do much besides man the ticket counter and give people tokens.<br/>That is, until you find yourself trying to handle a pun-cracking skeleton who won't stop cheating at the arcade games.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. not your typical wednesday

 “… _so_ …. you come around here often?”

You don’t grace him with the gift of a response, barely resisting the urge to roll your eyes. Just try and look vaguely interested in your book, flip a page or two.

“oh, c’mon kid. you’re _krill_ -ing me here.” The skeleton waves one of the confiscated plushies at you.

“I’m not a kid. And that’s a whale.” You snatch the stuffed fish and set it back under the counter.

“aahhh, they speak!”

You give in and roll your eyes, huffily moving to turn your back on the monster. The sharp corner of the counter digging into your side hurts a little, but you have to keep face. Just two more hours and you can clock out, you remind yourself.

“… so, how are a hobo and a balloon alike?”

Deep breaths. You are a hard-working employee who never loses their cool. “Look, I’m not here to make convers-“

“both have no visible means of support.”

 _Especially_ not to talking skeletons who cheat at arcade games and think they’re funny.

“okay, okay, here’s another one. what do baby apes sleep in?” He snorts at himself, visibly amused.

You groan and gracefully slam your head into the desk.

 

 

When you came into work this morning, you had prepared for another slow day. It was Wednesday, not a particularly busy time for mall arcades, days you enjoyed to do nothing more but perch at your front counter and read. No influx of little kids buying tokens or exchanging tickets for prizes, no sudden rushes of teens looking for a little nostalgia, just maybe a few wandering groups of kids skipping class and college students and that was it.

And the day had most certainly started off that way, at least. You were reclining behind the ticket counter, book in hand, thoughts shadowed by the quiet electronic trills and rapidly flashing LEDs of the arcade machines. Yes, it had most certainly seemed like a peaceful, quiet day.

Of all the things, you most certainly hadn’t been expecting…. this.

“WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, PUNK!! YOU DIDN’T HAVE YOUR BLINKER ON!!”

“U-Um, maybe you should use th-the power ups if y-you want to go fa-faster, Undyne…”

“I DON’T NEED HELP TO WIN!!!”

“It’s…. n-not help… it’s just... u-um, taking ad-advantage of your available r-resources?”

You were pretty sure that fish lady was about to break the racing simulator; but before you can intervene, a large goat _(?)_ steps up to the counter, blocking your view of the couple.

“Excuse me, may I purchase some more tokens?” She smiles apologetically as (who you assume to be) her child grips onto the counter, peeking up at you eagerly.

“Of course, how many would you like?” You try to plaster the sincerest smile possible on your face and fumble underneath the counter for the box of coins. She had come in with the rest of the overexcited group of monsters shortly after lunch, you recall. They had split off into smaller groups to wander around the little arcade, curious about the older machines.

“Thirty, please.” She looks down at the child, who slides a fiver onto the countertop.

“Alright, give me one moment. Our machine broke a day ago and I have to count them out by hand.” You laugh lightly, pulling out a handful of tokens out.

Suddenly, there’s a loud “NGAAAAHH!” punctuated by a sharp _crack_.

Shit, you had almost forgotten about those two.

“U-Uh oh…”

“Can you please wait here a moment?” You awkwardly grimace at them, tugging yourself out from behind the counter and trotting over to the racing simulator row. Mustering the most intimidating voice you could manage as you round the corner, you announce your presence with an oh-so-eloquent “What’s going on here?”

A very, very guilty looking yellow dinosaur is shifting from foot to foot anxiously, avoiding your gaze. Beside her is a fish monster, stiff as a board and clutching a broken steering wheel in what appears to be an iron grip. Lovely.

Youch. That’s definitely irreparable. “...Right, okay, would you two please come w-“

“WOWIE! UNDYNE, IT APPEARS AS THOUGH YOU HAVE TRULY BESTED THE IMAGINARY CAR CONTRAPTION!”

You want to groan as another monster appears as if on cue, this one looking distinctly… skeletal. Why are they all so _loud????_ Whatever happened to your peaceful, _quiet Wednesday?_

“Alright, can we just-“

“I-I… am SO SORRY!” The lizard-looking one wails, practically throwing herself at your feet. “It w-was an accident!! She didn’t m-mean to do it!!”

Instant regret for using your menacing voice. You reach down to help the monster up, feeling sorry. “No, no- it’s okay, please don’t…” Would it be okay if you patted her back? You reach down and give her a friendly pat before you overthink things.

Her lower lip wobbles as she looks up at you, tears threatening to spill over. Oh stars you made her cry. Oh my gosh you’re a terrible person??

“Here, we can- you two can come up to the front and we can work something out. Reasonably. No yelling or being implacable allowed. Alright?” You cast a glance to her partner, who thankfully doesn’t look as shaken up.

After escorting the two to the front, where they apologized over and over and the dinosaur- Alphys, was it?- promised to come by at a later time to repair the damage. You can practically predict the upcoming talk you’d have with your boss; but she was luckily very lenient when it came to things like this. (The last time, a rowdy teenager had ended up shattering the screen to one of the zombie shoot-em-ups. Her only response was a “Well, kids will be kids!” as she tossed her hair over her shoulder, tittering lightly, clearly more amused than upset. “But they will have to pay for the repairs.”)

Afterwards, most of the group had introduced themselves. Despite the fact that you were terrible with names, they all seemed quite memorable- Toriel, her child Frisk, Alphys and Undyne, and the tall skeleton was Papyrus.

In fact, the only one who hadn’t introduced himself was the shorter skeleton. You had previously thought he had fallen asleep in the padded seat of the racing game, but he’d merely opened an eye socket to look at you after Papyrus insisted he introduce himself. (“I APOLOGISE FOR THE RUDENESS OF MY LAZY BROTHER! HE IS THE SPITTING IMAGE OF A LAZYBONES.”)

Something about him just made you… wary. You decided to keep a close eye on him from your spot for the rest of the afternoon.

 

And a good thing you did, because when the group all met back up half an hour later for snacks, he was carrying what had to be at least half of the contents of a claw machine.

Without buying a single token from you.

“UM?” Undyne looks like she’s about to explode, and Papyrus just looks shell-shocked.

“sup?”

“YOU WON THOSE???”

“yup.” He pops the p, holding out a stuffed dog. “want one?”

Papyrus goes bug-eyed, stomping a foot. “I FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE! MY BROTHER ACTUALLY PUT EFFORT INTO SOMETHING FOR ONCE!”

The smaller skeleton winces slightly at that, you note. “its not really that hard, paps. have you tried the claw machines?”

“YES, AND EVEN I, THE GREAT AND ALWAYS MAGNIFICENT PAPYRUS, FOUND IMMENSE DIFFICULTY IN DEFEATING THE CLAW PUZZLE!” He narrows his eyesockets, glancing from side to side. “YOU MUST HAVE DISCOVERED SOME SECRET EXPERT TECHNIQUE!!”

“um. all i did was-“

“YOU MUST SHOW ME! SO I, TOO, MAY ENGAGE IN THE PROCUREMENT OF MISCELLANEOUS STUFFED CREATURES!” And like that, he’s picked up the other skeleton and hurried off towards the claw machines near the front.

You decide to tag along, for curiosity’s sake. And partially because you probably need some sort of evidence before approaching him about it.

Papyrus sets him down in front of a regular stuffed animal filled claw machine. “OKAY! NOW YOU CAN DEMONSTRATE YOUR ANIMAL-FETCHING PROWESS!”

He sighs and pretends to search through his pockets before shrugging up at Papyrus. “sorry, bro. looks like i’m all out of tokens.”

_Liar._

Papyrus looks around wildly before noticing you came along. “AH! HUMAN! YOU TRULY HAVE ARRIVED AT A MOST OPPORTUNE MOMENT.” Is he… sweating?? “MAY I ASK FOR ONE OF THOSE ACTIVATING-CIRCLES, PLEASE?”

Why not? You pull a token out from your pocket- personal stash, really- and hand it over. “Go ahead, pal.”

The smaller skeleton seems to notice that you’ve caught onto his façade, turning a little blue and looking harried. “um. okay. thanks.” He turns to stick the token into the coin slot and hesitantly grabs onto the handle.

…Nothing’s happening.

“You have to press the ‘start’ button, first.” You helpfully offer.

“right, right. i, um. i knew that.” The machine bleeps, flashing a few lights before the timer on the front begins to count down from thirty seconds. He hesitantly waggles the joystick around, directing it above a stuffed animal. 10. 9. 8.

“uh?”

You reach over and hit the ‘drop’ button for him, letting the claw reach down and weakly latch onto the leg of a stuffed bear. It begins to tremble, rising up, clearly about to drop the bear- when you notice a faint blue hue overtake the bear, following it as the claw rises.

When the claw releases over the drop chute, the bear seems to float there for a moment too long before the blueness vanishes and it drops down.

It’s followed by a long, borderline painful silence.

You and Papyrus simultaneously glare at the offending skeleton.

“…heh, um, what can i say? it looked like it was, uh, a _skele_ -ton of work, and i-“

“Cheated? Really?” You shake your head, frowning. “I’m going to have to ask for all of those prizes back.”

“I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU. WE CANNOT TAKE THE PRIZES IN AN UNFAIR MANNER! WHAT IF OTHER SMALL CHILDREN DESIRE SUCCESS IN THE FORM OF SMALL, CUDDLY ANIMALS? IF YOU TOOK THEM ALL, THEY WOULD GET NONE!”

His shoulders droop, either feeling incredibly guilty or just very good at pretending to be. “i-“

“Don’t try and justify it, it won’t help. And you’re going to have to sit out for the rest of the day. With me.”

He blinks at that, his permanent grin almost falling to some other expression you can’t really read for a second before flashing back to a cocky smirk. “well, i guess there are worse _pun_ -ishments out there, heh?"

If you didn’t know any better, you’d think he was _pleased_ to sit out with you.

The three of you trudge back to the rest of the group, Papyrus explaining what happened to everybody else while you split off and tuck the rest of the stuffed animals underneath the ticket counter for the maintenance guy to restock. The small skeleton flopped onto the stool you normally sat on, eyelights following you around as you finished up tidying.

Toriel came over and scolded him yet again while you gave Frisk a stuffed turtle for being a good sport. They beamed up at you in thanks, before wandering off to go play some more games.

 

 

And, well, here you are. Head pressed uncomfortably against the hard counter, book now forgotten.

“…….are you ok?”

“What do you think?”

“… i think maybe you don’t really want to know what baby apes sleep in?” He sounds unsure, before clearing his throat ( _how???_ ) and shaking his head. “i mean, um. i may be a real _numbskull_ , but that looked like it hurt.”

You prop your head back up on a hand, turning to look at him. Fine, you can stoop down to his level. (It’s not like you had anything better to do.) “Your puns are bad.”

His previous insecurity seems to melt away at that, instead replaced by deep offense. “aw heck no. my puns are _sans_ -tastic.”

“That one didn’t even make sense?” You stick out your tongue.

He stares at you with an unreadable expression, before exhaling sharply. “oh.”

“Oh?”

He sticks his hand out. “hi. im sans.”

Now it’s your turn to stare, eyes wide. “Oh my gosh? You’re.. _._ ”

Sans tilts his head, looking at you imploringly, which only builds onto your gradually increasing amusement.

Swallowing past the lump in your throat, you grin devilishly. “Papyrus… and Sans. You two… You’re… _a font family_.” You let out an ungraceful snort, chased away by true laughter bubbling up from somewhere in your chest purely from the ridiculousness of it all. “A- a _font family_ …!” Are you crying from laughter? Probably. But you just can’t stop laughing, as though all of today’s slightly surreal events have simply led up to this breaking point involving two skeletons named after what might be the two worst yet overused fonts in all of existence.

He looks at you as if he’s discovered the holy grail, his grin widening to the point where it almost looks painful. “oh, man. we’re gonna get along.” He chuckles lowly, your laugh seemingly contagious.

It’s a few more minutes before you calm yourself down, able to breathe normally again. Damn, your face and sides are sore now.

“you look really nice when you laugh. you should do it more.” The skeleton leans forward onto the counter, waggling his eyebrows at you suggestively.

Okay, moment ruined. You frown down at Sans.

“check that. you look nice all the time.” He winks cockily up at you.

“Are you _flirting_ with me?” Might as well be blunt, starting a friendship off on misunderstandings was no way to go.

His face flushes teal, his grin suddenly tense. “u-uh. if i _was_ … that wouldn’t be a problem, right?”

Toriel, who had been hovering nearby pretending not to eavesdrop, whips her head around to watch you two eagerly.

“Um… not really, I guess?” You’re relieved to see how he visibly relaxes, albeit being still considerably blue in the face. “I’ll take it as a compliment, you seem like the kind of guy with pretty high _sans_ -dards.”

Sans guffawed at that, falling off from his stool.

  

Forty-five minutes and a fairly ridiculous amount of unbearable puns later, it seems like everyone’s grown tired and is ready to finally go home. They all come to huddle around your counter, laughing and sharing tales about what games they liked best.

“Well it sounds like everybody had a fun time!” Toriel smiles, clapping her paws together before a playful look crosses her face. “Even _Sans_.” She grins at the two of you teasingly, but her eyes admit she’s proud of the little skeleton.

Sans blushes light blue, pointedly looking everywhere in the room except for in your direction; while Alphys narrows her eyes, her gaze darting between you two as if trying to look for something.

Oh. That reminds you. “Hey, Alphys. Let me get your number, so I can pass it onto the boss whenever you come by to fix that machine?” You lean forward, reaching into your pocket for your phone.

“O-Oh! Yeah, alright.” She reaches to take it from you, tapping gently on the screen before passing it back. “Um, you forgot to unlock it.” Oops.

“WAIT!! You’re totally getting my number, too!!” An excited fish snatches your phone away the moment you swipe past the lock screen.

Lots of phone-passing later and you’ve managed to herd them towards the exit, promising to text back. Thank the stars, you’ll have just enough time to clean up before locking up-

“ACK!” You jump, startled, as Sans suddenly appears out from nowhere.

“um. hey, i forgot something,” he begins, reaching into his pocket awkwardly. “i went to the store, right? but they were all out of raisins.”

You stare at him quizzically as he pulls a small indistinguishable object out of his pocket, cradling it in the palm of his hand before holding it out to you.

“…so instead, would y-you care for a _date_?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wrote this all at like 2 in the morning so excuse me if there's some minor mistakes?  
> man im not satisfied leaving it off where it is, so maybe i'll do another chapter...
> 
> [1:46 AM] rocko grunt: Ok but like… how do write sans  
> [1:50 AM] zacharie: i have this book called "awesome good clean jokes for kids"  
> [1:50 AM] zacharie: so whenever i need inspiration  
> [1:51 AM] rocko grunt: Nevermind


	2. an /out-of-this-world/ date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i finally got around to doing this ha  
> i was also hopping back and forth between this and another reader/sans thing; which was a dumb thing that i shouldn't have done so if it's weird to read or seems off from the original story... im rly sorry.
> 
> dedicated 2 linda for listening to my writing woes, such as the words "smooting" and "drumbing". ur the real mvp

You can’t believe you’re doing this. You _really_ can’t believe you’re doing this.

I mean, sure, it’s been a while since you’ve been out on a date, but the lengths you were going to right now? Pretty sad.

Tossing a pair of unsuitable pants away to dig through another pile of clothes, you firmly decide to ignore the sudden wave of self-loathing. Surely you had something decent to wear on a date with a monster skeleton, right?

 

 

“You know what? Okay.” Your laughter from the corny pickup line had finally dwindled, wiping away a nonexistent tear. “Let’s go on a date.”

“w-wait, really?” Sans looked ecstatic, his grin stretched so wide it almost looked painful. “you’d…. you really want to?!”

“Might as well give it a shot, y’know?” You raised an eyebrow, setting your hand on your hips confidently. “Besides, even if it doesn’t work out perfectly, I feel like we’d end up being pretty good friends anyways.”

He doesn’t respond to that, turning a little blue and giddily rocking slightly back and forth on his heels.

“… Anyways, I do have to finish cleaning up,” you elect to break the silence first. “Text me the details later?”

“yeah. yeah i’ll do that.” He adorably beams up at you, and you chuckle lightly before leaning down to give him a light peck on the forehead. His face flushes a dark blue, something you find strangely… endearing?

“Sounds great.”

He let out a strange drawn-out squeaky sound before instantly teleporting away without so much as a goodbye.

 

 

You pull out your favorite sweater, looking it over. Would this be appropriate? Hell, you didn’t know where he even intended to take you- he stubbornly had insisted on keeping it secret. He wouldn’t even give you a hint. Nothing against surprises, of course, but you didn’t know how to dress for the occasion!

You faintly hear your phone buzz, but you could care about that later. Thirty minutes left before Sans was supposed to show up, thirty short minutes you had to get ready. Maybe just sort of dress casual, but not too casual? Your phone goes off again. Maybe you could wear this top instead, and just bring a light jacket? Your phone buzzes some more, seemingly frustrated. You ultimately decide to check it.

[7:25] **Mr Sansman** : we’re still good for eight right??  
[7:26] **Mr Sansman** : actually do you mind if i get there a little after eight instead  
[7:26] **Mr Sansman** : paps is insisting on helping and it’s kinda  
[7:27] **Mr Sansman** : difficult to leave the house

Mentally picturing the excitable skeleton trying to help his brother with a first date is entertaining.

[7:29]  **XXXXXXXXX** : I may forgive you for showing up a little late…  
[7:30]  **XXXXXXXXX** : if you tell me where on Earth we’re going!! >:O  
[7:30] **Mr Sansman** : no way  
[7:31]  **XXXXXXXXX** : 8:15 then?  
[7:33] **Mr Sansman** : sounds perfect

He says something again after that, but you’ve caught the time and are frantically digging through your now-refined pile of acceptable date clothes. It  _is_ getting warmer out, you probably wouldn’t need a jacket. Or a sweater. Yeah, that seems reasonable.

You finish picking through an outfit and grab your phone on your way to the bathroom, checking your messages.

[7:33] **Mr Sansman** : like you  
[7:33] **Mr Sansman** : haha nice  
[7:43]  **XXXXXXXXX** : …did you just nice your own joke?  
[7:44] Mr  **Sansman** : so what if i did  
[7:44]  **XXXXXXXXX** : Fair enough.

You plug your phone in to charge- who knows how long you’ll be out, wishful thinking aside- and finally change clothes, smoothing down any wrinkles as you glance yourself up and down in the mirror. Nice. You look pretty decent, if you do say so yourself. With time to spare for various amounts of tidying and straightening! You reach for a comb, strangely determined to appear redeemable for once.

Twenty minutes later and you hear your buzzer go off, followed by a slightly muffled “knock knock” from behind your door.

“Who’s there?” You flick the bathroom lights off and grab your phone, moving towards the door.

“sue.”

You unlock and open the door as you respond with “Sue who?”

“ _sue_ -prize?” As expected, it’s Sans. He’s holding a giant bouquet of flowers and looking slightly fidgety as he pushes them towards you. You’re touched by the sweet gesture. “uh, for you.”

You laugh airily, having to use both hands to take it from him. “Aww, thanks?? Do you wanna come inside? I’ll put these in some water.”

Shuffling backwards to let him step inside, you set the flowers down on your coffee table and turn towards the kitchen to find something that would hold all of them. He makes himself comfortable on your couch, silently watching you move around as you dig out a dusty old vase that probably hasn’t been so much as looked at in, what, years?

You wash it off and fill it with water, setting it on the coffee table. On second thought, you probably couldn’t fit all those flowers inside, so you grab some water glasses as well.

By the time you’re done, flowers are oddly spaced out all over your living room. It’s a nice look, though, and Sans makes a low sound of approval before sliding off the couch.

“ready to hit the road?”

You hum too, shooting him a genuine grin. “More than ready.” He seems pleased with this response, making his way out the door before bowing slightly for you. You finally get a good look at him- he seems to have dressed up for the occasion. Then again, “dressed up” being a very loose term, seeing as he seemed perfectly fine walking around in public wearing shorts and bunny slippers. He’s kept the blue jacket on, but changed for a pair of long pants and proper tennis shoes. Nothing fancy, thank goodness you didn’t decide to dress up fancy.

Locking the door behind you two, you glance back at him. “So, where are we headed?”

“not tellin’.” He shakes his head before motioning towards the complex’s exit. “it’s nearby though, hope you don’t mind if we walk?”

“That’s fine.” You move to walk closer besides him. “Am I allowed to guess?”

“ ‘m not gonna tell you if you’re right, but sure you can guess.” He chuckles lowly.

“Boo, you’re no fun. So, how’s Papyrus?” You change the topic, your footsteps falling right into pace with his.

“he’s doing pretty well. heh. so, um, so the other day, we went downtown, right? cause he said he’d like to go sightseeing. and as soon as he sees a group of tourists…”

Smoothly, you reach down to interlace his fingers with your own. It feels right. He stops walking.

 

Sans’s train of thought immediately crashes into the metaphorical station, and he can already feel a heavy blush coming on.

“u-u-um, and, it, uh, it turns out he j-just wanted to, um…” He blinks down at your entwined hands, half-formed words already dying in his throat.

Whoops. Did you suddenly cross a boundary you weren’t aware of? Was holding hands some sort of taboo in monster society? His face was turning awfully blue. You make a move to pull your hand back, ready to apologize when he gently squeezes your hand, looking back up at you with a soft expression you can’t quite place.

You felt your face grow warm, quickly glancing away as you silently chide yourself. Don’t make it weird. Don’t make it weird. Too late, you’ve made it weird.

After a few short moments of silence, he clears his throat and continues to walk along. The fact that he hasn’t released your hand yet doesn’t pass over you. Hopefully it’s okay with him?

“…anyways, turns out paps just, um, wanted to help other people take pictures. heh. he wasn’t interested in taking any himself, just for other people.” He quietly continues, looking down at the ground.

“He’s such a sweetheart.” You comment, tilting your head to the side as your pace slowly picks up. “Didn’t he try and help you get ready for this, too?”

“y-yeah. _tibia_ honest, the flowers were entirely his idea, he was so excited when i admitted we were going on, uh. on a… um, on a,” his slightly-faded blush darkens again as he stammers, shoulders tensing up. “a… d-date. he has this little book, yeah? calls it a ‘dating manual’, the library in snowdin gave it to him for free since… uh,”

He looks up, and is taken slightly off guard to find you looking back at him so intently.

“Since?” You gently prompt, an amused smile finding its way onto your face.

“since, well. uh, when he started getting interested in it, let’s just say it was in pretty much mint condition. nobody cared about it.” His smile begins to shift into something a little more playful and mischievous. “but, um. somehow, a few chapters ended up being… altered, one day. and since it was in bad condition, they gave it to paps for free, since he was the only one interested in it.”

“You didn’t!” You crow, wearing a matching smile. “To a library book?”

He continues to play innocent. “i have no idea what you’re talking about. besides, he was practically a _babybones_ \- didn’t need to be readin’ about that sorta stuff.”

You’re about to reply when he abruptly stops, glancing up at a sign.

“sorry to interrupt, but, uh. we’re here.”

It was a small, bare park; populated mostly by squirrels and an abandoned swing set. You had passed by this place several times before, but never actually stopped to check it out. Huh. He tugs your hand, heading inside. “c’mon, i saved us a spot.”

You follow him to a small pecan tree a good distance away from the paved walking path. There’s already a checkered blanket spread out and a small picnic basket sitting on top. It’s surprisingly... thoughtful? To be brutally honest, you had been expecting some cheap dinner at a little local restaurant; so this was quite a nice surprise.

He lets you settle down on the blanket first before sitting down next to you, sliding the wicker basket closer. “right-o, we’ve got all sorts of sandwiches, made fresh courtesy of the great papyrus, and tomato soup that’s hopefully still warm. wanna just go through and pick out whatcha like?” He flips one side up, pushing it towards you.

“Sounds lovely. Mind letting go of my hand, first?” You shoot him a silly grin, raising your aforementioned hand up and waggling your fingers. “I kinda need to use them.”

He lets out a nervous chuckle and quickly releases them, tucking his hand back into his pocket.

 

Dinner was surprisingly good. The only real slip-up was with the soup; when a googly eye somehow floated its way to the top to stare menacingly up at you. But that couldn’t be counted as a real disaster, of course; after sharing a good laugh over it, you got to hear about Papyrus’s spaghetti-based adventures.

Now the two of you had packed up and moved over to the unkempt playground; playful banter slowly turning to more quiet, thoughtful talk as the sky gradually grew darker overhead.

“Besides, like, the general public didn’t even know about _monsters_ for hell’s sake. And you guys were- were right there. So close. Who’s to say that aliens don’t exist?” You’ve collapsed inside of the much too small kiddy slide, knees tucked up underneath you. Sans is perched above you, shoes pressed against the plastic.

“heh. well, i heard there were sightings of these freaky aliens down in australia.” His tone has suddenly gone flat, and you wriggle slightly to better look up at him. “had these really strong kicking legs and wide, furry ears. turns out- what humans thought were ‘kangaroos’ turned out to actually be… _mars_ -upials.”

You laugh harshly as he winks down at you, grin widening. “Oh my gosh, Sans. Nooo.”

He seems to take that as a cue to continue, confidently rearranging himself to prop up on an arm. “oh? maybe you’re just trying to hide the truth… don’t think that i don’t know your parents are aliens. ‘cause _there’s nothing on earth_ _like you_.”

You can feel face growing warm from the off-handed praise. “Y-yeah? Well…” Think of a punny response, c’mon, there’s gotta be something-

“are you an alien? ‘cause you’ve abducted my heart.” You make a frustrated noise as Sans beats you to it, laughing at his own joke. “give up, kiddo. you can’t outpun the master.” He makes a clicking sound, thumb bobbing up to point at himself.

Sighing resignedly, you push yourself up from the slide and onto your feet. “Yeah, yeah, fine, Mr. Legendary Punmaster.”

“don’t you know it.” He merely scoots downwards to take your place, looking up at you.

“Not really, actually, I’d think you’re more of a bonehead.”

“that really means a lot to me, kiddo.” He pretends to wipe a tear aside, clutching at his chest.

“Aww, thanks, shorty.”

“i am not- ! i’m just, uh, small boned.”

“…bet you’d fit in the toddler swing.”

Sans looks nervous at the devious glint in your eye, one hand scrabbling for purchase on the slide as he tries to back away.

“no- no. don’t come any closer, i forbid you from- ACK!” Before he can finish, you’ve easily scooped him up from the slide. “Wow, you’re really light.”

“d-don’t you know it’s rude to talk about a lady’s weight on the first date.” He deadpans, wiggling slightly in your grip. “besides, i’m practically skin and bones- uh, heh, not even.”

You don’t respond, starting to move towards the swings.

“no- kid, put me down, i’m not askin, i’m tellin-“

But it’s too late, you’ve plunked him into the baby swing with a giant shit-eating grin, Sans letting out a surprised yelp.

“Ha!” You cackle triumphantly, stepping back. “I was right! You fit perfectly.”

“actually, it’s digging into my nonexistent gut.” He grumbles, kicking his legs. “help me outta here, would ya?” His attempts at lifting himself out are amusing.

“I’m showing Tori, first.” You back up further and pull out your phone with the intention of taking a picture. “Smile, babybones.”

He scrunches up his face somehow, sneering crankily as your camera goes off. “jerk.”

“Worth it. You’re cute.” You stick out your tongue childishly. He stumbles on whatever he was going to say next, going blue again.

“…just help me out, already.” He finally says after a long pause, wiggling in the swing.

“Sure you don’t want me to give you a push?” Laughing, you step forwards to wrap your arms around him, pulling him out after a bit of adjustment and setting him down. “Better?”

“much.” He sighs, shuffling forward to pick up the picnic basket. “it’s dark, i’ll walk you home.”

 

You hold hands again on the walk home, and he seems much more comfortable with it this time; gently swinging them as it’s your turn to chatter about this and that. At your door, he awkwardly stands there for a bit, hands fluttering, before clearing his throat.

“was… was it okay?”

“It was wonderful, Sans. Thanks.” You smile down at him, pleased when his nervousness seems to melt away. “I’ll handle planning our next date, if you’re alright with that.”

“yeah! yeah. that sounds… great! text me the details?”

“Of course.” And with that you lean down to gently plant a kiss right on his grin, straightening back up after a moment. “Goodbye, Sans.”

He gapes up at you, absolutely awestruck.

“s-see you around.” His voice is definitely pitched higher than normal, causing you to chuckle.

He pauses a moment, mustering up the courage to stand on his tippy-toes to briefly ‘kiss’ your cheek before moving back. “text me.”

“I will.”

And with that, he takes a single step backwards and vanishes; presumably teleporting back home.

 

 

You wake up the next morning to a room full of flowers, and smile so wide your cheeks hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hahaha i did it. are you proud
> 
> fun fact: i originally had the date set up as a movie night with all ur favourite pals, but it turned into a weird conversation about the sunscreen capabilities of chapstick so i scrapped it and started over...
> 
> anyways, that's it for this fic! thanks for reading!! :}

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!! melancholarie.tumblr.com


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